


What not to do in a Blizzard

by SleepyxAsh



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, Ootsutsuki are vampires, Senju are elves, Uchiha are werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-08-06 06:58:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16383485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyxAsh/pseuds/SleepyxAsh
Summary: Madara Uchiha is a werewolf that just wants to get some more food for his clan before the first blizzard hits. Tobirama Senju is an elf that was investigating a rumor about a vampire. Somehow they are forced together after the snowstorm hits before it is due. Will they survive the dangerous weather with even more dangerous monsters on the prowl? And what is this warmth that they are starting to feel as they begin to get to know each other even better throughout this entire predicament?





	1. The Hunt

**Author's Note:**

> I figure it might be convenient to mention this here:
> 
> I hope that this isn't too confusing, but this is an alternate universe where preternatural creatures roam the earth alongside humans.
> 
> The Senju are elves.  
> The Uchiha are werewolves.  
> The Ootsutsuki are vampires.  
> The Uzumaki are Kitsune.

~Madara~

“You look pissed off, brother,” Izuna informed Madara conversationally.

“I’m not pissed off,” Madara said automatically, “that’s just my face.” Normally it was the truth. His face was contorted into a permanent scowl that made him look like he was angry at the world all the time.

“Alright,” Izuna hedged, “you _sound_ pissed off.”

“I’m not pissed off,” Madara repeated again, “that’s just my voice.”

“Quit bullshitting me,” Izuna snapped, apparently getting irritated with Madara's responses. “I’m trying to be concerned, and you’re making it really hard to care.”

“Then don’t care,” Madara told him. “Get your fat nose out of my business and go and drool over that whorish woman that you’ve been pathetically fawning over the past month.”

Izuna hissed dramatically as he clutched a hand over his heart, as though he was wounded. “That really hurts, brother. You should be nicer to me. You never know what sort of mental scarring might happen with my family being so horrible to me.”

Madara turned and looked at him with an unimpressed look. His brother was such a drama queen. “The only mental scarring you have happened from our parents repeatedly dropping you on your head when you were younger.”

Izuna snorted and shook his head at Madara's barb, not even offended by it. _Why_ was it so hard to insult his younger brother? “Can’t fawn over her…she dumped me last night. Said that I wasn’t ready enough for commitment.”

Forgetting about his grouchiness for a few moments, Madara turned and looked at his younger brother in surprise. He actually felt a pang of sadness toward him along with quite a bit of confusion. “And what did you say to her?”

“I told her that her saying that was rich, considering that she was the one that was fucking half of the on-duty guards behind my back,” Izuna shrugged. “Didn’t like her much, anyway. I want a woman with class.”

“Any woman with class isn’t going to put up with your sorry ass,” Madara informed him mournfully. He wanted nieces and nephews, and it seemed that Izuna was doing everything in his power to repel decent women. It was hard enough to find women of their kind that were decent, anyway. Most of them were so old that they didn’t care about things such as propriety anymore, which was the problem with Izuna’s latest attempt. They wanted marriage only by name.

“I know,” Izuna sighed.

They were standing in the armory of the Uchiha compound. Madara had been looking over a few of the relic weapons that had been passed down through the generations when Izuna had walked up, desperately trying to take his mind off the problem at hand. His brother had actually been a rather nice distraction.

“So,” Izuna said, changing the subject back to its original course, making Madara immediately take back his last thought. “Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you, or not?”

“I’m just frustrated,” Madara relented. “We don’t have enough food to do us for the upcoming winter, and father won’t allow me to go out on a hunt to get some more game.”

“You know that he won’t allow you for good reason,” Izuna informed him. “The Senju are out in the forest, and they hunt our kind. He doesn’t want to see you get hurt.”

“They _used_ to hunt our kind,” Madara snapped. “And I won’t get hurt, even if one of them did decide to attack me. I’m the strongest warrior of the Uchiha bloodline! I can take care of myself.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, son,” Madara flinched and spun around to see his father standing behind both brothers. He had shoulder-length dark hair that was rumpled by the roaring wind outside. His coat was covered by snow, which meant that he had just walked in at the very end of his and Izuna’s conversation. His dark eyes bored into Madara, making the younger feel as though his soul was being watched. “I’m aware that you can take care of yourself against nearly any Senju that is out there. My largest worry is that we’re simply too late. Winter has come early this year, and the first blizzard is almost upon us. You wouldn’t be able to go and hunt before it hits.”

“I’ve hunted in blizzards before,” Madara argued. “The storm is still over a week away according to our clan’s experts. I can make it back with more food before then. We might still be cutting things thin, but it won’t be as bad.”

His father, Tajima Uchiha, shook his head. “You’re my heir, Madara. I cannot risk you like that. No matter how strong you are, it doesn’t take any more or any less skill to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You need to be here in a shelter when it hits.”

“As heir,” Madara said, looking at his father and straightening up as much as he could, “it is my duty to the people here to make sure that they were sufficiently provided for in the case of a natural disaster. I will not go against your orders, father, but I beg you to reconsider and let me go. I need to do this for my clan!”

“Very well,” Tajima said. “You and two others will go.”

“Awesome!” Izuna yelled, jumping in the air and waving his hands around in a fanatical fashion. “I want to go! Choose me, Madara!”

“No,” Tajima cut in immediately. “You’re the only two sons that have survived into adulthood. At least one of you will be staying here where your safety is guaranteed.”

Izuna immediately wilted, but he did not argue. His enter body slumped slightly, but it was almost a resigned pose, as though he knew that there was no fighting against Tajima on this. Madara could understand the man’s fear. He had already lost his wife and three of his sons. Madara felt bad about asking his father to let him go out on a dangerous run for supplies, but he would do it anyway. The clan came first at times like these.

“Get ready to head out, Kagami and Hikaku will join you,” Tajima said. Madara had to fight back the urge to roll his eyes at his father’s commanding air. He wanted to ask his father if Kagami or Hikaku had a choice in whether to go or not, but he decided that pushing his luck in that fashion wasn’t the wisest choice that he could make.

“Thank you, father,” Madara said formally, bowing. “I will go and inform my cousins and we can get out of here as soon as possible.”

Izuna remained silent as Tajima nodded his head in approval. Madara then turned around and exited the small building and went back out into the snowy dirt streets, pulling his jacket a bit tighter around himself as the freezing wind cut him to the bone.

Kagami and Hikaku probably weren’t going to be thrilled by the news, but Madara was certain that they would get over it. It wasn’t very often that they were able to shift into wolves and stretch their legs anymore.

~Tobirama~

It was getting cold. Tobirama could feel the freezing winds through his cloak as he stood atop the trees and looked down at the forest ground below. The sun was gone, and darkness had taken over. If he had been a mortal, he was certain that he would have been unable to so much as see his hand in front of his face. Thanks to his preternatural blood, however, his sight was sharp enough to make out the finer blades of grass that grew in patches on the beaten path fifty feet below.

“Are you certain that we’re in the right spot?” Tobirama inquired, turning to look at his cousin. Toka Senju was standing on a limb of the tree next to his. A bow was in her hand as she looked down at the ground as well.

“Yuki said that he saw a vampire near the old cabin that was just off from the mortal trail,” she said. “He has no reason to lie. Children aren’t supposed to be this far away from our village, so he’s in a lot of trouble right now for his actions.”

“As far as I know, Yuki has never seen a vampire before,” Tobirama said. “How would he even know what to look for to say that it was one? It was probably just a mortal that spooked him. They’ve been traveling through here often, trying to get past before the blizzard starts.”

“He was genuinely scared, Tobirama,” Toka said.

She sounded uneasy and for good reason. It had been many decades since a vampire dared to set foot in their forest. They were horrible creatures. Selfish, power-hungry, and pure evil. They were the only preternatural species alive that didn’t have a place in the supernatural summit that happened every year that was supposed to promote peace throughout the creatures that roamed the earth. It was a strained peace, but it had stopped full-blown war from breaking out since its installation.

“I don’t sense anything off right now,” Tobirama said. He sniffed the air, and only smelled the presence of their elven clan a few miles off. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s split up and see if we can find anything else. A vampire, if they were to come into this forest at all, probably wouldn’t be stupid enough to stay on the trail.”

“Do you think that splitting up is a good idea?” Toka questioned. “Vampires are really powerful, after all.”

The odds of there actually being a vampire prowling the forest were indescribably low. If they were desperate enough to come inside, it meant that they were in trouble or wounded. Either way, the wouldn’t pose much of a threat. He figured that Toka was a bit too much like Tobirama’s elder brother to be swayed with such logic, so he just nodded and said, “You’re plenty strong enough and I am too. If we come up to any issues, I’m certain that we can handle it just fine on our own.”

“Alright,” Toka said, accepting the simple explanation a lot more readily than she would have the longer one. “I’ll go left and you go right?”

“Sounds good to me,” Tobirama replied before he turned away from his cousin and jumped to the next tree. He quickly began climbing down, craving the protective barrier from the wind that the trees created. As soon as his feet silently hit the ground, he looked around for as far as he eyes could see in the pitch darkness and saw nothing out of place. The only sounds that he could hear came from small rodents that were scampering around on the forest floor.

He bounded through the forest, making sure to keep himself alert for anything that was out of place. Everything was calm and normal for a few minutes, but he smelled something off just on the outer range of his senses, to his right just as he passed through a small clearing with a frozen stream. His bow and quiver of arrows were sitting on his back and it was a comforting presence. He absently gripped the hilt of his sword for a moment, assuring himself that it was there as well before he turned and took off toward the disturbance.

As he got closer, he slowed down from his run to a slow walk and stopped after a few steps as he realized something very important. He was smelling something that wasn’t of the same species as him, but it certainly wasn’t a vampire. It was much too wild, and there was nothing seductive about it.

“What the hell are mutts doing in the forest at a time like this?” Tobirama muttered to himself. Part of him was tempted to turn around and leave them to whatever it was that they were doing. There was only one pack of wolves that would normally come into this forest, and it was the Uchiha dogs. The last thing that he wanted was an encounter with any of them. They were the most uncivilized and _rude_ group of people that he had ever had the displeasure of meeting.

 _I need to go and check it out_ , he though resignedly. _They might be the people that scared Yuki_. If that was the case, then there would be hell to pay for him being out in this miserable cold for absolutely nothing.

He sighed and started running again. He supposed that it was better that he found them than Toka. She had no filter at all. She would have probably started a brawl with them, and the repercussions of that would be horrible. The relationship between the Uchiha and the Senju was strained at best, and it wouldn’t take much for a war to break out.

He would be able to get things settled so much more smoothly as long as Madara Uchiha wasn’t in the group.

It was like thinking his name conjured the other man into existence. Tobirama heard running feet that sounded a lot like animal’s feet. A moment later, three large wolves busted into view. The front one was all black, his mouth twisted into a menacing snarl. There was another one that had brown hair just behind him and a bit further back was a smaller one with kinky, curly black fir. All of them were growling angrily at him. Tobirama instinctively took a couple of steps back and pulled out a bow with an arrow, notched the projectile and pointed it directly at the jugular of the front wolf.

Tobirama remained silent for a moment, listening to the menacing growls of the filthy dogs as he stood with his arrow pulled back, ready to fire.

“Name yourselves,” he finally commanded. “State your business in the Elven Forest!”

The snarl of the front wolf got even louder before it was gone. Tobirama heard a low _pop_ and smoke. A moment later, a very naked man and very familiar man was standing in front of him. Embarrassed by the lack of propriety on his part, Tobirama immediately looked at Madara's face, refusing to look anywhere else, because he refused to let him know how uncomfortable that he was. “Hikaku! Kagami!” the leader’s loud, deep voice called. “Stand down. It’s just a prick.”

The snarls immediately stopped and there were two more pops. Another man and a teenager both appeared, just as naked as the initial man. “What do _you_ want, Senju Why didn’t you send your idiotic brother out here instead?”

“Hashirama is the newest head of our clan,” Tobirama informed Madara coldly. “He has no time for such trivial duties, such as patrolling for idiots and mutts.”

“Who do you think you’re calling mutts?!” the younger of the trio demanded. He had the same, curly hair as his wolf’s mane did. He scowled at Tobirama angrily, but before he could say anything else, Madara cut him off.

“Ignore his comment, Kagami,” Madara commanded. He turned around and looked at Tobirama. “Is there anything else that you need? We were kind of in the middle of something when you so rudely barged upon us.”

“State your business here,” Tobirama replied coolly. “I believe that I already asked you for that.”

“I believe that our business here is none of your concern,” Madara returned, crossing his arms over his bare chest defiantly. Tobirama absently wondered how the other man could hold so much pride and dignity in his stance while he was in such a state of undress. “The last time I checked, the treaties stated that while you may live in these woods, the Senju are not sole owners of the goods found here. It is well within my rights to be here, and I don’t have to answer to you.”

“State your business,” Tobirama repeated, the patience completely falling out of his voice when he spoke this time around. “It’s not a request based on laws or treaties. I’m telling you to tell me what you’re doing out here, and the answer will determine whether I hurt you or not.”

Madara raised a challenging eyebrow at this. “Really, Senju? You think that you’d actually be able to hurt me? I don’t think that you understand what you’re implying. I would tear you apart in a fight.”

“I don’t care about your arrogance,” Tobirama told him. “Just state your business so that I can go on with my life.”

“We were out here hunting,” Madara replied dryly. “Is that alright with you.”

“Were you further northwest in the forest at any time?” Tobirama inquired, pressing on, ignoring the sarcastic question.

“No,” Madara informed him. “We haven’t been here for very long and we haven’t had the chance to get any further.”

Tobirama narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t sense any lies coming from the other man, but that didn’t mean much anyway. Then again, he didn’t see why Madara would lie about something so trivial as scaring a small child either. He figured that the best course of action would simply be to ask him about it.

“Did you scare a small elven child?” Tobirama asked. “Tell me the truth.”

Madara looked at Tobirama blankly, clearly not impressed at all by the question. “We have maybe a week before the blizzard hits. Do you really think that we have the time or the inclination to scare an elf brat? I have better things to do than that. If that’s all you’re going to waste our time on, then we’ll be going.”

That was an obvious no. Tobirama wanted to ask him again but decided against it. “Fine,” he said. “Go an put some clothes on, shameless dogs.”

“No problem, albino freak,” Madara replied, turning away from him. The others followed his lead and transformed simultaneously. They were gone, out of Tobirama’s sight within the next couple of seconds.

“Bastards,” Tobirama muttered to himself. He shook his head and turned back around. Snow was covering the pathway that he was on from the little flurries that had happened when winter had made its way in. He frowned as he saw footprints…human footprints. Madara Uchiha hunted in his wolf form, and he was certain that the others in his group were doing the same thing. The elves didn’t come out this far often. Tobirama was probably the first person to be this close to the edge of the wood for weeks. That meant that there was someone else in the forest with them.

Tobirama cursed and quickly took off, following the footprints. They were pointed in the same general direction that the werewolves had gone. It was veering off slightly, just enough to assume that whoever was out there was near where Madara and the others had settled in, but they were far enough away for them to not be noticed. It might be a coincidence, but Tobirama didn’t think that it was. Whoever was out there was after the Uchihas.

The forest was thinner than Tobirama was accustomed to and he felt exposed. “What are you doing out here? Are you following us now?” Madara questioned. Tobirama turned around and looked at the newly clothed Uchiha with an angry glare.

“Quiet!” Tobirama hissed at him.

Madara looked as though he wanted to argue, but he must have noticed the look on Tobirama’s face, because he remained quiet. His defiant frown turned to one of confusion as he looked around, apparently not sensing anything out of the ordinary. As good as most werewolves’ sense of smell was, Tobirama had been born with a very sensitive nose that let him sniff out anything for a couple of miles around him. His sense of smell was so acute that he would pinpoint not only which species, but individuals of the species when he got close enough.

“What is it?” Madara murmured.

Tobirama’s stomach sank as he inhaled deeply through his nose and smelled the seductive stench that he’d only come across once before. That one encounter had earned him three nasty scars that tore across his face, and he wasn’t keen on experiencing that sort of torture ever again.

“Vampire,” he whispered. “It’s pretty far off, but it’s here.” Of all times for a child to know what it was talking about, this was one time he wished that the youth was just stupid.

“Are you certain?” Madara asked wearily.

“I wish that I wasn’t,” Tobirama admitted, “but yes, I’m certain.”

“What direction?”

Tobirama pointed in the direction just off from Madara's camp. Tobirama could smell the other two wolves there, and neither of them seemed to be worried. Madara must have known that it was Tobirama when he went out to look.

“Let’s go,” Madara said. He shed his jacket and pulled his shirt off, dropping them unceremoniously in the snow. When he put his hands on his pants, Tobirama looked away. Part of him wanted to snap at Madara to not be so presumptuous, but he held his tongue. Only a fool would try to go after a vampire on their own, and Tobirama didn’t fancy himself an idiot.

He heard the low _pop_ and saw the smoke. When he turned back around, a massive black wolf was standing next to him. The man’s animal form looked mean and ferocious. As much as Tobirama hated to admit it, he was glad to have him there. Madara was a formidable fighter, and would help him out if things turned south, which they probably would.

The wolf moved his head in an obvious gesture for Tobirama to lead the way. Tobirama took in a deep breath to calm himself before he took off, running in the direction of the monster.


	2. A Good Plan doesn't Always Work Out

~Madara~

He didn’t have time for running through the snow with Tobirama Senju. Hell, he didn’t want to be anywhere near the man, so the fact that he was having to spend some of his very limited time in the wood with him was putting him in a darker and darker mood. From the way that Tobirama had begun tensing up as Madara was getting angrier let Madara know that the other man could feel his animosity. Apparently, the rumors about him being a very keep sensor were true.

Good. Madara was happy that Tobirama knew exactly how upset he was by the situation.

Madara inhaled deeply through his nose and could smell the sultry scent that he had come across a couple of times while he had been out in the mortal cities that were scattered throughout the Fire Country. Tobirama hadn’t been lying. A vampire was somewhere nearby.

Madara growled lowly at the realization that he wouldn’t have been able to sense it this far off if he wouldn’t have been looking for it. Tobirama coming by and warning him about it had saved his life. That thought alone angered him to no end.

“Could you tone it down on the animosity?” Tobirama murmured to him. “I get that you’re not happy to be here with me. I’m not exactly thrilled that you’re here either. We don’t have much of a choice, however. You can be pissy later. Right now, control your emotions because they’re broadcasting loud enough that the vampire is going to be able to tell we’re coming for him sooner that we can afford.”

Madara let out a low growl but forced himself to calm down. Tobirama was right, and Madara had no interest in rushing in without the element of surprise, something that they would probably need to win. He hadn’t fought with Tobirama before and had only fought alongside elves a couple of times, always with his newest companion’s elder brother, Hashirama.

Madara could barely see, only well enough to dodge around the trees that were starting to get more and more dense as they started moving deeper and deeper into the woods. He didn’t need to see, however, to know that they were getting very close to their target. The heady sensation that one experienced being so close to a vampire was nearly overwhelming, and it was starting to get to be too strong. He felt as though he was about to be put into a trance of some sort.

He watched as Tobirama came to an abrupt stop. The other man turned around and Madara stiffened up, skidding to a stop just a few feet in front of him. It had been such an abrupt movement that Madara had actually been afraid that he was going to tumble forward and land face-first into the snow. Madara slowly turned himself and realized that Tobirama had moved to where he was staring at Madara again. He had a sneaking suspicion that Tobirama had watched in amusement as Madara had almost taken a very uncomfortable dive.

He bared his teeth aggravatedly at the other man and let out a low growl. Tobirama was directly in front of him a heartbeat later and had both of his hands latch on Madara's muzzle, pressing it together. “Quiet, fool,” Tobirama hissed at him, clearly not fearing exactly what Madara could do to his hands.

Tobirama’s hands, which had been quite cool against his fur, heated. Madara inhaled sharply and snatched his head away. He quickly backed up, trying to get as far away from the elf as he could with his limited vision. He saw Tobirama’s pale form walking toward him. He was about to take off, as far away from this place as he could get it before he broke the treaty.

“Quit being stubborn,” Tobirama snapped at him. Madara was uncertain as to how someone could sound so demanding with their voice underneath a whisper, but Tobirama managed it with ease. “I’m trying to place an enchantment on both of us. It’s going to make us undetectable.”

Madara narrowed his eyes at him, being sure to convey his distrust as clearly as he could without words. Tobirama obviously got the message, because he just rolled his eyes held his hands up. When he spoke again, his voice sounded a lot gentler. It was soothing to Madara's ears. Those damn elves and their ability to be able to calm those around them on a whim.

“Think rationally. I know that you don’t like nor trust me, but just keep this in your mind. We might not like each other, but we’re not enemies. There’s a vampire not too far away that is our enemy. Why would I jeopardize myself by harming the one person that can help me get rid of this thing?”

Madara remained tense for a few moments, just eyeing Tobirama and his body language. Sadly, the man’s reasoning was pretty solid, and Madara knew that he didn’t have much of a choice but to trust him. He let out a resigned breath and took a slow step forward and lowered his head so that his mouth was nudging at one of Tobirama’s hands. The other man caught the hint and touched either side of Madara's head and he felt the warmth of the elf’s magic seep into him.

It only took a few moments before Tobirama backed away from him. Madara didn’t feel any different, but he supposed that was to be expected. He wasn’t able to smell his own scent on himself, so he figured that masking it to others wouldn’t make any difference to him.

“Okay,” Tobirama said. “Let’s go.”

He turned back around and took off through the trees. Madara followed after him quickly, being sure to try his best to move as silently as Tobirama managed. It was hard in his animal body to move with as much grace. He had a lot more of himself to work with in this form than his other.

 

The vampire was in a dark clearing. It was an eerily beautiful spot in the moonlight. Madara crept up to behind a tree, next to Tobirama and crouched down. He could smell the creature and if he looked hard enough, he could see a silhouette. It was thin and tall, he could see something billowing around it in the wind and figured that it was a cloak.

Madara turned to look at Tobirama and saw that the other man was looking directly back at him. He could make out the expression on the other man’s face quite clearly. There was a small frown on his mouth and his eyes were almost glazed over, as though he was trying to contemplate something, and Madara figured he knew what it was. He was probably contemplating exactly how much he should trust Madara.

_This is hardly the time for second-guessing_ , he thought impatiently. He motioned for Tobirama to get moving with a sharp twitch of his head toward the target. Tobirama’s face softened slightly, moving back to neutral. He nodded once, curtly, before Madara saw him reach behind his back for the bow and the quiver of arrows. He pulled out the weapon and notched the arrow before he moved from behind the tree and bounded forward.

Madara immediately moved as well. He jumped into sight just after Tobirama.

The other man, instead of shooting at the vampire while he had the element of surprise, stopped with the weapon aimed at the other’s chest. “State your name and your business,” Tobirama commanded.

The vampire hadn’t moved.

“Ah,” figure said. It was a male. “I was wondering when someone would show up. Shame it had to be so soon. I was in the mood for something gamey and figured that I would be able to feed on some werewolves before any of this happened. I suppose that the sweet taste of an elf and a large wolf will suffice.”

“I’m sorry to say that you won’t be feeding tonight,” Tobirama informed him.

“You know,” the vampire sighed. “It’s very annoying when elves, of all beings, act so disgusted about vampires feeding. We are distantly related, you know. I know that you crave blood as well, even if you don’t need it to live.”

“I’ve never drank blood before,” Tobirama informed him shortly. “This is not about me, however. This is about you. The leader of my village has commanded that I give this chance out, so I will give it to you. Leave now, and you will not lose your life.”

“How very gracious of you,” the man sighed. “Tell me, did you actually think that I was going to just leave when you told me to?”

“No,” Tobirama replied, “but my leader told me to ask, so I did.”

Madara smelled the alluring scent of the vampire become stronger and let out a vicious snarl and a warning bark. He heard a low chuckle and felt his hackles rise in indignation. He was a proud being, and the thought of anything, even a vampire, looking at him as though he was completely unintimidating was unacceptable. He felt the need to show this man exactly who he was messing with. He waited, however, knowing that there was a way of doing things.

He saw Tobirama pulling back the string on his bow just a little bit more, and Madara knew that it was time. Just as Tobirama released the string on the bow, sending the projectile straight toward this stranger’s heart, Madara shot forward and saw Tobirama start running as well. The arrow was dodged, not that Madara was surprised—it would never be that easy to win against a vampire—and Madara jumped straight at the vampire’s throat.

He wasn’t entirely sure what happened after that. He tasted blood that wasn’t his own and then felt a burning pain in his side—broken ribs—before he was hurtling across the clearing. He landed, skidding on the ground. He wanted to lay there for a moment and get over the ache but knew that he didn’t have time for such luxuries. He quickly rolled himself to his feet and looked around wearily, waiting for another attack.

He saw Tobirama and the vampire going at it. He could tell the difference in strength, with the vampire being physically stronger and Tobirama, but he could also tell the difference in skill. Tobirama was better at hand-to-hand, his blows landing a lot more frequently than the vampire’s. He saw Tobirama jump up and deliver a roundhouse kick to the vampire’s head and this blow wasn’t dodged. When it made contact, the vampire flew backward and crashed into a tree, which broke, and he kept going on until he hit the next one. Madara heard the bark crunch, but it didn’t break this time around, and the creature slid to the ground.

His hair, which had been long and white, had been neat and orderly when the fight had started. Not even two minutes into the entire ordeal, the vampire’s strands where scattered everywhere. The man resembled some of the werewolves in his clan that had just gotten off a mating craze. It would probably be funny, but the man got back up and walked into the clearing as though nothing at all had happened.

Madara struck again, this time a lot more careful than he had been on the first go. He wouldn’t be saved by a Senju. They might be partners on this excursion, but he would make it obvious that he was able to take care of himself. When he and the vampire collided, the man was ready for him, but Madara had too much force behind him to just be swatted to the side like he had been before. He reared back on his hind legs and shot his face forward, straight at the man’s jugular. The vampire moved, but Madara got a mouthful of shoulder and willingly bit down as hard as he could, tasting the same blood that he had just moments before.

The vampire had a pleasant taste about him, and Madara had a feeling that it was the reason why the vampires and werewolves had always been such staunch enemies. The vampires tasted divine and Madara figured that he wouldn’t be opposed to sitting down and eating one.

Madara batted his paws at the man as he bit down, slinging his head around as he did so, intent on causing as much damage as possible before the inevitable occurred. He heard an arrow twang, and a loud curse come from the man above his head. He, then, felt a really painful blow to his torso, and would have flown back from it if he wouldn’t have had such a strong grip on his opponent’s shoulder.

There was another twang and another scream. Madara felt yet another blow, but this one was much harder than any of the ones from before. The meat of the shoulder than he had been latching onto came with him as he flew back. He felt his back bend, nearly breaking as he slammed into a small but sturdy tree trunk. On impact, his head slung back and slammed into the neighboring tree, and the next thing that he saw was black.

~Tobirama~

The vampire, who’s attitude had been completely calm and uncaring up to the point that he and Madara had managed to work in tandem with the other, had flipped. His face was twisted into an unbecoming scowl as he faced Tobirama. His expression promised painful suffering. Tobirama was tempted to use his water-based magic to flood the clearing and get away from him but knew that he couldn’t. Sure, he hadn’t seen Madara hit, but he’d heard the impact and hadn’t heard anything else. The werewolf wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t conscious, and Tobirama knew that his status would quickly change from alive to deceased as soon as he left him with a heavily wounded and pissed off vampire.

Tobirama couldn’t move fast enough to doge the man when he raced toward him. The next thing that Tobirama knew, the bow had been slapped out of his hand and a large hand wrapped around his throat and lifted him from the ground. “I think I’ll take my snack now,” the man snarled. One of his hands immediately went to the arm of the hand that was holding him in the air, and Tobirama brought his arm up and swung, but it was more of a desperate tactic than anything. He was quickly running out of air, and the position was too awkward to actually fight.

The vampire caught his arm in mid-swing and Tobirama had to bite back a cry of agony as he felt his bones snapping in his forearm as the pissed off creature twisted his wrist to an impossible angle. Tobirama’s mangled arm was brought up and the vampire just smiled at him before bringing the limb to his mouth. A moment later, Tobirama felt the ache of two sharp objects inserting themselves into his flesh.

“You taste just as sweet as I was hoping that you would,” the vampire told him. Tobirama felt the mouth on his arm yet again. He feebly tried to fight it, kicking and squirming, but he was getting dizzier and dizzier and the loss of blood wasn’t helping him in the least. Just when he was about to pass out from it all, the hand around his throat released him. He limply fell to the ground and looked up, unable to find the strength to move anything at all.

“I know what you’re thinking,” the man told him. “You’re wondering why you’re still alive, and I’ll tell you why. I’m going to go and feed on your friend to get the rest of my strength back, and then I’m going to speed up this storm. I feel as though both of you deserve to freeze to death for daring to try and fight an Ootsutsuki.”

Tobirama wanted to say something, and he wanted to move, but just laid there as the other man walked away. He was able to weakly move his head, fighting off the agony of his exhausted muscles protesting. He watched in horror as the Ootsutsuki approached Madara, who had turned back into his human form, probably on impact.

The vampire reached down and grabbed Madara by the throat. Tobirama watched as Madara was lifted into the air. The vampire brought him closer and latched his mouth on the man’s neck, where his hand wasn’t covering.

“Don’t kill him,” Tobirama managed to grunt weakly.

The vampire pulled away from Madara at Tobirama’s voice. “You’re still able to speak, huh? You must be strong willed, elf. Is it because he means a lot to you? In that case, have no fear. I’ll simply drain him of what he doesn’t need to strictly survive and then I’ll leave the rest for him.”

He went back to feeding from Madara after that. The wolf made a whimpering noise when the Ootsutsuki latched back on. Tobirama hoped that he wasn’t conscious enough to register what was happening to him. He might not have liked Madara very much, but Tobirama didn’t wish being fed upon with no way of fighting back on him.

After what felt like hours and mere seconds at the same time, the vampire released Madara unceremoniously and the man fell limply back into the snow. “I’ll be on my way now. Enjoy freezing to death.”

Tobirama watched him go blankly. He knew that something in his brain should have registered with his threat to ‘speed along the blizzard,’ but he couldn’t think of what it was for the life of him. His mind was too muddled and murky.

_A nap sounds good,_ he thought tiredly. _Maybe I’ll be more coherent after a bit of sleep._ His eyes rolled into the back of his head a few moments later, and the only thing that he knew was nothingness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it seems like they're in trouble. Any ideas of what you think will happen next? Is there anything/anyone specific that you want to see? Let me know if there's anything confusing that you want to have cleared up.
> 
> I hope that you enjoyed! Thank's for reading!!


	3. Story Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tobirama tells Madara about the very first vampires, and Hashirama notices that his brother has gone missing.

~Madara~

When Madara woke up he was freezing, though part of him knew that he was a lot warmer than he should have been. He knew that he wouldn’t freeze to death; it was impossible for the Uchiha to freeze from the inner fire that they all had inside of them, but it was very possible to be so cold that it became nearly unbearable.

He realized after a moment that it was due to the fact that there was something settled over his naked form, and he wasn’t laying on the snow. He sniffed shallowly and immediately recognized the refreshing natural smell that he had come to recognize from the elves. There was an even more familiar aroma there, however. It was Tobirama’s spring scent.

He let out a low groan, and he immediately felt a hand over his mouth. “Stay quiet,” Tobirama’s low hiss rang into his ears. “We have to be as silent as possible.”

Madara slowly opened his eyes and looked up. Tobirama’s head was looming over him, his eyes narrowed. Neither said anything for a few moments, but Tobirama slowly lifted his hand from Madara face and Madara moved his head from side to side, not recognizing anything at all about the area.

“What happened?” Madara questioned. “Where are we?”

“Keep it down,” Tobirama snapped at him, his voice way below a whisper. “We were beaten, and the vampire spared our lives, but not for good intentions. He said that he wanted us to freeze to death, which is nearly impossible. Once he realizes that the cold isn’t going to kill us, he’ll probably attempt to finish the job himself.”

“Then it sounds like we might need to get the hell out of here,” Madara grunted. He moved to push himself into a sitting position but had to stop only a couple of inches from the floor. His head was spinning something fierce, and his muscles wouldn’t support anymore of his weight. He attempted to push himself and found that he couldn’t get any further. He felt as though he was about to be sick and had to lay back down.

Don’t push yourself,” Tobirama told him, his voice calm and soothing. “We’re as safe as we can be right now. Just build up as much strength as you can before we have to leave.”

“We need to leave now,” Madara replied stubbornly. “Anyway, is it too much to ask where we are and get an answer?”

 “We’re in an abandoned cabin maybe ten miles away from where we ran into the vampire,” Tobirama told him. “The temperature was dropping rapidly, and it was the closest place to get out of the wind.”

Madara frowned. “That makes no sense. The blizzard is still a week away. How is it already here?”

“The vampire decided to speed it up,” Tobirama replied.

Madara stared up at Tobirama blankly, not understanding the meaning behind his words. “I don’t get it,” he admitted. “How would a vampire speed up a blizzard?”

Tobirama sighed and leaned back, as though he was getting ready for a tiring time. Madara watched him bring his knees up to his chest and wrap a very familiar jacket around them. It was his jacket.

“I imagine that your clan didn’t tell very many stories about elves and vampires,” Tobirama said. “I’m not surprised. How much do you know about my kind?”

“Not much,” Madara informed him. “I know that you have preternatural speed, and some magical abilities. You all have good eyesight and reflexes…and apparently you have a taste for blood. Is there anything else that I’m supposed to know about you guys?”

“No,” Tobirama told him. “I guess you’re not. It’s a bit of a long story.”

“It’s not like we have anywhere else to be right now,” Madara said. “Just tell me what’s going on. I don’t like it when I don’t understand something. It makes me feel like a fool.”

Tobirama’s expression changed, as though he was holding back a comment at Madara's statement. He just scowled at him, daring him to speak up. He might be exhausted now, but he would be healthy soon enough, and would make him sorry for it.

“The elves are one of the oldest races to roam this earth,” Tobirama told Madara, finally giving in. “We were favored by the gods as their best creation, nearly as perfect as they were. For this we were given lifespans that outlasted the mortals by millennia. Back well over ten thousand years ago, the elves dominated the world. Most of the ruling elves were benevolent and wished no harm on other creatures, whether they be fairies, warlocks, humans, or werewolves. The last ruler of the elven empire’s name was Kaguya Otsutsuki.”

“This sounds like a really cheesy bedtime story that you all would tell your young to massage their egos until they turned a massive size like the rest of you damned elves,” Madara informed Tobirama.

“The elven empire was a real thing, imbecile,” Tobirama sighed, rolling his eyes. “It’s not my fault that your clan doesn’t take much stock in history. You asked about how vampires could manipulate the weather, so just be quiet and listen. I’m trying to explain everything to you.”

“Fine,” Madara sighed. He supposed that he could have a laugh at this ridiculous story.

“As I was saying before, the very last ruler of the elven empire’s name was Kaguya Otsutsuki,” the way that Tobirama said her last name was with disgust, and it made Madara just a little curious as to why. He had agreed to keep his mouth shut, so he just pushed away the question for the moment. He would either find out by the end or just ask Tobirama himself.

“At first, Kaguya was a great queen,” Tobirama said. “She was kind and very understanding. She loved the elven people and her subjects. She was an extraordinary elf and was from a family with magical abilities that superseded all other elven lines.”

“If she was so great, and her family was so amazing, then why are the Senju the lead family for the elves?” Madara questioned.

“All in good time,” Tobirama assured him before he went back to the story. “It was nearly ten years into her reign that things started going south. She was beloved by nearly everyone, and it went to her head. She became arrogant and cocky. Suddenly, she was demanding sacrifices to be made in her name, and days of praise set aside for just her. When people did not do as she commanded with worship, they would be brutally executed. Many people would not budge on the old ways where they worshiped and praised only the gods that they chose to follow, and Kaguya was certainly not a goddess. Thousands upon thousands of people were executed for the sake of her vanity and this angered the gods.”

“She sounds like a real bitch,” Madara muttered.

Tobirama grunted in what sounded like agreement and simply continued on with his story. “One day, the god of light came to her throne room disguised as a poor priest and begged her for the right to worship the god of the sun every day when the sun hit its high point over the earth, and she denied him the right, insisting that she was more important to worship than any deity that hid away in the sky. When this happened, the god showed his true form, and Kaguya, who was far too arrogant to be fearful of this powerful being, demanded that he leave her kingdom and leave earth, which was to be her domain.”

“This is really starting to sound like nothing more than a really bad bedtime story that elders would tell to scare their children into respecting the gods,” Madara mused.

“That’s what this tale is used for,” Tobirama told him, “but it’s also true, so hush and let me finish it already.”

Madara rolled his eyes but motioned for him to continue. Hopefully Tobirama would get to the point eventually.

“The sun god was very surprised by her blatant display of disrespect, and he was angered by her audacity,” Tobirama continued. “He told her that because of her transgressions, she would be punished. He would not permit her to walk under the sun ever again, and if he found her there, he would burn her alive without mercy. He cursed Kaguya, who had held herself so highly, to exist as nothing more than a parasite, living off the creatures that she had put herself above. She would need their blood to function. If she did not drink their blood, she would slowly wither away from starvation, but she would never die from it. The only way that she could get out of this torment is to die a painful death, either from fire because of the sun, or for an enemy to rip her to pieces.”

“So…” Madara managed to get out, perplexed by the story. Most of him found it very hard to believe in such a story, but there was another piece of him that knew that Tobirama was much too logical to believe in some stupid little bedtime story. This really was the real deal. “You’re telling me that vampires are related to elves, and that because of this, they have all of the predator instincts along with the ability to use magical powers, how come I’ve never heard of this before?”

“That’s because only some of the vampires have this ability,” Tobirama said. “Kaguya was an Otsutsuki elf before she was turned into a vampire. The children that she had after she became a vampire were Otsutsuki vampires. They have her elf genetics, even if most of the genes were overpowered by the vampiric curse. Other vampires that you see are humans that have been sired by vampires. They have no magical abilities.”

Madara let out a suffering sigh. “So, let me guess. Of all the vampire that could have popped inside of the forest, it was an Otsutsuki.”

“Yes,” Tobirama said, “and if I’m not mistaken, which I don’t think that I am. I would guess that it’s Momoshiki Otsutsuki, one of Kaguya’s grandsons.”

Madara remained silent for a few minutes as all of the information sank in. He was pissed at this entire situation and felt like punching something…specifically that vampire’s face. Things just got a lot more dangerous than they had been before. He needed to regroup with his companions and coming up with a game plan. There was no way that he was going to be able to go back to his village without anything to show for the trip. It would be disgraceful, especially with how much of a fuss he had made about it to his father.

_Wait…_

His eyes widened, and his breath hitched as another thought flew into his head. His stomach sank heavily, and he pushed himself up yet again. He ignored the nausea and dizziness this time around and managed to support himself completely. Tobirama scowled at him and Madara could see him moving to press him down again.

“Don’t do it,” Madara snarled at him. “I have to go back for Kagami and Hikaku. They don’t know what’s going on right now, and they have to be told before that freaking magical vampire finds them.”

“It’s already been hours,” Tobirama informed him. “It’s already snowing fiercely outside, and there’s no way that we’re going to be able to find them on our own. Our best bet is to go straight for my village. We can send out search parties for them and the vampire.

“Then we need to go _now_ ,” Madara snapped. “We’re wasting time. They could be in trouble and need our help.”

“You’re not going to be much good to them if you pass out halfway to my colony. Rest up before we go.”

“Easy for you to say,” Madara growled. “Your men aren’t our there!”

“My cousin is out there,” Tobirama told him coldly. “We split up right before I found your campsite. I’m not telling you this because I don’t want to get help out there. I’m telling you this because the quickest way to get this done is for you to rest so that we can make the trip quickly. I doubt that your comrades are idiots. They’ve got their instincts, and they’ll be able to sense that something is wrong. The snow is way too early. They’ll have their guards up.”

Madara let out an exhausted sigh and slumped his shoulders, figuring that Tobirama was probably right. He was just looking for something to get angry about other than the situation that he was in. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll rest for a little while longer, but we’re leaving out soon.”

“That’s all I ask,” Tobirama said.

~Hashirama~

He was hungry, and there was nothing at all that he could do about it, because he was in a meeting.

It was one of the really boring meetings that he’d always hated attending, even while he had been learning the act of leading from his father. The elves around him were discussing trade deals and rationing out portions of the foods that the hunters brought in. He didn’t know why these meetings were monthly. Nothing ever changed, even with hours of fighting and arguing amongst themselves. He wished that the officials over the different areas of their government could hash it out amongst themselves and the highlights of everything could just be sent to him. Sadly, as the leader of their elven clan, Hashirama was stuck watching over the proceedings and giving the final decision at the very end.

He was watching with abject amusement as two of the more hot-tempered elves, the ones over marketing and agriculture, began arguing over the amount of funds that they were supposed to share. He wondered if things would get physical this time around. Before he had a chance to find out, however, the wooden doors to the meeting halls slammed opened.

The loud thud that the doors made against the wooden walls echoed throughout the room, and immediately shut the two arguing men up. Everyone’s heads snapped to the doorway, and they all watched as Toka and two others marched through.

Hashirama recognized the features of the other two and frowned curiously. It had been a while since any Uchiha had been this deep in the forest, never mind actually being inside of the elven compound.

“How dare you barge in on such a meeting!” Shinohara, the man over marketing snarled at her. “How could you insult our leader in such a fashion.”

“Why don’t you seal your mouth shut for longer than half a second, you over inflated airbag?” Toka snapped back at him. “Of course, I’d be happy to break your jaw so that it stays open all the time too. I’m not insulting our leader, if anything I’m saving him from being murdered out of sheer boredom.”

“Toka,” Hashirama spoke up, cutting Shinohara off before he could get himself worked up. As lively as shouting matches were, he didn’t think that this was the time nor the place for one. Tobirama would be very angry with him if he allowed one during a meeting. “I’m certain that you have a good reason for interrupting us. Would you mind explaining what’s going on?”

“I found them in the forest,” Toka said. “They say that they were out here with Madara Uchiha, and that he had gone out to investigate a noise in the forest and haven’t seen him since. The blizzard has arrived earlier than scheduled, and I can’t find Tobirama either. I don’t know if a vampire is out there, but something’s going on, and it’s not looking very good.”

Hashirama immediately got to his feet and walked from around the table. “I believe that this meeting needs to be postponed, ladies and gentlemen. I will announce a later date for us to gather.”

He didn’t bother looking back at the others in the room as he quickly walked out. He heard Toka and the two werewolves rushing out with him. He didn’t stop until he was outside of the large hut that had been built to sustain their official gatherings.

He looked up at the large trees that shot past the building and looked at the houses that were built inside of them. “Come on,” Hashirama commanded. “I need to get to my house and grab some supplies. The two wolves can come with me. Toka, go and get a few more men and take them out for a search party. I’ll go with these two once I’ve gotten my things together.”

Toka nodded and jumped away, landing on one of the lower branches before lunging again, moving out of sight.

Hashirama looked at the other two men, who looked so out of place amongst the other elves that were slowly walking around the forest floor. They were wearing skins from the game that they killed, and their hair was curly and untamed. They seemed wild and feral. It was a far cry from the peaceful aura that surrounded the rest of the tranquil community with their fabrics woven from plants and the well-put-together appearance that they all had.

“My apologies for being so presumptuous,” Hashirama said. “I assume that you two are well enough to go out and look. Do either of you have any injuries that need to be taken care of?”

“No,” the younger of the duo said. “We need to go and find Madara. We can’t go back to our people without him.”

“Madara's going to be fine,” Hashirama assured them. “Follow me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that you liked it! I tried to make the story about Kaguya as clear as possible. I hope that everything made sense. Let me know if anything was unclear. Let me know what you thought! Thank you for reading!!!


	4. Traveling

~Tobirama~

He was bleeding. It was painful feeling blood leave his body and slowly drip to the ground that he was sitting on. His entire body felt tired and numb, whether from the cold or the blood loss, he was uncertain. He figured that it didn’t really matter, however.

He simply sat with his back against the wall of the cabin, watching Madara sleep. It was probably creepy, but there wasn’t anything else to do. It was really sad when a sleeping person was the most interesting thing happening, but it was the truth. After every third exhale, Madara's face would scrunch up, as though he was thinking about something complicated. Every time that it happened, Tobirama found himself smiling like an idiot. He was probably delusional from the lack of blood.

He could feel his own mind fuzzing over and idly wondered if he was about to nod off to sleep himself. He knew that it was a bad idea somewhere deep down, but it was so tempting. His judgement was definitely impaired at the moment, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about it. The only way that he was going to stay awake is if he got up and started walking around. With how heavy his body felt, he didn’t even want to move. His weak reasoning for not getting up was that it might make the bleeding worse. It was a great point if he just ignored the fact that if any damage was going to be done to his wound, it would have happened while he was carrying Madara's heavy body through the snow.

He felt his eyes sliding shut and jolted himself. Pain flared in his side where the gash was, and it was enough to bring him back to full consciousness, though there was no telling for how long. His senses were weak at best, and he figured that the vampire could be at the door and he wouldn’t be able to tell.

He could feel his heart beating, it was surreal. _Is this how I’m going to die?_ he couldn’t help but idly wonder. Sure, Elves were a very tough species, but anything alive would die if it was robbed of all its blood.

 _I can’t die right now,_ he decided stubbornly, though he didn’t think that his thoughts on the matter at hand would change his circumstances very much, _Madara needs me to guide him back to the village. If he’s out here by himself while he’s still wounded, he’ll die. That would made Hashirama very sad._

It was as though thinking about him caused Madara to stir. Tobirama watched as the other man twitched. His dark eyes opened and immediately zeroed in on Tobirama.

“Oi, Senju,” he croaked, pushing himself into a sitting position, “what’s the matter with you? You look terrible.”

Tobirama would have loved nothing more than to reply with a dry comment, but he figured that it would just be a waste of energy anyway. He just remained silent and looked at the Uchiha. Would he even be able to guide Madara with the way that he was? He would be able to walk, right?

Madara leaned forward and braced his arm a bit closer to Tobirama. He immediately recoiled and brought his hand back. “What’s warm and we—dear fire god! Senju, is that your blood?”

Tobirama looked down and saw that it was his blood. _The bleeding must have been worse than I originally thought._

“What the…what the hell were you thinking?!” Madara shouted at him, pushing himself to his feet. He scrambled forward, jumping over the pool of blood to kneel next to Tobirama and shoving an index finger accusingly into his face. “Why didn’t you _say_ anything, you fool?”

“Quiet,” Tobirama snapped at him, his voice coming out muted and scratchy. He weakly swatted Madara's hand away as he demanded, “Do you want the vampire to find us?”

“You have much larger concerns than the vampire right now,” Madara told him darkly. “If you’re not careful, your body’s going to be out of blood, and you’ll be useless to him anyway.”

“It’s not like it matters right now,” Tobirama said tonelessly, because it really didn’t. “It’s not like I have anything that’s going to stop the bleeding on me right now. It’s cold however, which is a blessing in itself. I’m certain that if this would have happened while it was warm out, I would already be dead.”

“It definitely matters right now,” Madara hissed at him. “You could _die_ …like permanently die! There’s no coming back from that, you know that, right?!”

“If you keep yelling,” Tobirama sighed, “the blood loss won’t kill me, the vampire will.”

Madara clenched his eyes shut, realizing that Tobirama wasn’t going to get the whole vampire thing out of his head. He decided to keep his disapproval to himself, at least until they were safe. He, instead, reached out and pushed his jacket from Tobirama’s side and saw that there was a large gash in the tunic, which was tinged a dark red from the blood that was still weakly leaking out of a nasty-looking wound.

“Can you not heal yourself?” Madara asked him, being sure to keep his voice down.

“Elves can use magic,” Tobirama murmured. “But we can’t all do the same things. Hashirama can use healing magic, but I am unable to.”

“I’m surprised that you’re admitting to not being able to do something,” Madara told him dryly, but there was nothing malicious in his tone. It was as though he wanted to say something to light up the mood, even if he didn’t find the situation a laughing matter.

“I’m not that egotistical,” Tobirama said, appreciating the offer for a less heavy atmosphere. He made sure to sound as unoffended as he could.

“Well, just sit here,” Madara commanded him, his demeanor turning serious yet again. “I’m going to get some things together, and then we need to leave for your village.”

~Madara~

Madara shut his eyes, preparing himself for what he was going to have to do. Sure, he might be really sore, and his head might hurt, but he was in much better shape than Tobirama, so it was his turn to step up.

He walked away from Tobirama and over to the small pile of clothes that was a few strides away from them. He grabbed his pants and quickly put them on before he grabbed the worn shirt that he’d had on earlier that day. He pushed down an internal groan. It was his favorite shirt. As much as he wanted to tell himself that the shirt meant more to him than Tobirama’s life, he knew that was a lie. He wasn’t that coldhearted, even if it was toward an elf.

He made his way back over to Tobirama and knelt next to the man. He saw that Tobirama’s eyes had shut, and they weren’t reopening. “Senju,” Madara said gently, not wanting the man to startle and hurt himself even more than he already was. Tobirama didn’t stir and gave no indication to having heard Madara speak at all. He grabbed Tobirama’s shoulder in what he hoped was a non-threatening grip and spoke again. “Senju, you need to open your eyes. Wake up. We can’t stay here any longer. You’re doing worse, and we have to get to the village while you’re still able to give me directions.”

 _Please be able to give me directions!_ he couldn’t help but pray. He didn’t want to die, and he couldn’t let Tobirama die either, not when the other man had saved his skin while he had been in such bad shape. He was going to have to return the favor, but he wouldn’t be able to do that without Tobirama’s help.

When Tobirama didn’t stir once again, Madara brought his hand up and patted his cheek. He did it lightly at first, but when that garnered no response, he did so more firmly, making the tap just a bit softer than a smack. His next resort would be to slap the hell out of him, something that he really didn’t want to do. It would cause a lot of trouble if Tobirama woke up from it, and it was something that they didn’t have enough time for.

Thankfully, he was saved from having to go that far. Tobirama stiffened and lifted his head a bit straighter. It only lasted for a moment before the elf began to slump forward again, clearly not keen on waking up, but Madara didn’t care. If he could wake Izuna up without resorting to violence anymore, then he could wake up anyone.

He grabbed Tobirama’s shoulder with one hand to stop him from leaning forward and gripped his chin with his other. Tobirama’s eyes tensed and he weakly stiffened. His eyes fluttered open for a moment, looking up at Madara uncomprehendingly, before he shut them again.

“No,” Madara murmured. “Don’t go back to sleep, Senju. We have to get out of here before you get any worse. Wake up for me.”

Tobirama groaned, but Madara didn’t relent and didn’t remove his hands. “Come on, we need to go.”

“Just wanna sleep,” he mumbled, his voice so quiet that Madara barely heard him.

“You can sleep later,” Madara told him. “Let’s get you home, and then you can take a nap.”

“Okay,” Tobirama groaned. He moved to push himself up, but Madara hadn’t moved his own arms. “You’re going to have to move so that I can get up.”

“Not yet,” Madara said. “We’re going to be moving around outside, and the last thing that we need is for that wound to get any worse. Let me at least do my best to bandage it before we do anything else.”

“Whatever,” Tobirama sighed, clearly not caring one way or another.

Madara was grateful for the compliance. Tobirama could have been so much more difficult about it. He grabbed his favorite shirt and ripped it in half. He ripped it again and again until it was in small strips. He then pushed his jacket to the side and pulled the elf’s tunic up. He was treated to the sight of what was probably pale, smooth skin. It was impossible to tell if that was the case, however, because his entire stomach was coated in a layer of dried blood, and the majority of that was covered in that also had a fresh a coating of blood over it.

He wanted to comment on how much of an idiot that Tobirama was again, but he held his tongue. He figured that his bitching would be wasted at the moment. Tobirama didn’t look very lucid, and Madara knew that there wasn’t a point in scolding him if he wasn’t going to remember it later. He would just wait for a more opportune time.

“Alright,” he said. “I need you to sit up a little bit so that I can properly wrap you.”

 

Madara was in an awful mood by the time that he was finished putting sloppy bandages on Tobirama’s torso. It had taken more time than he had wanted to take, and it had taken more patience than he had ever known that he’d possessed.

To make things worse, Tobirama was unable to walk on his own, but he refused to be carried.  It was quite possibly the most annoying thing that he had ever experienced. The only thing that could have made the situation even more angering would have been if Madara would have been taller than Tobirama. The thought of trying to humor his dignity and breaking his back at the same time would have probably been his breaking point.

Thankfully, he was a few inches shorter than Tobirama was, so he was able to be a convenient crutch with only half of the annoyance. He looked over at Tobirama, who was silently forcing himself forward. He looked as though he was only seconds from passing out. Sweat was streaming down his flushed face, as though it was in the middle of a scorching summer, and not a blizzard.

His breath was visible, coming out in labored puffs. His eyes went from being screwed shut to weakly opening to look forward for a moment before clenching shut once more.

“I wish that you would just let me carry you,” Madara tried again, “It would go so much more quickly.”

“You’re not carrying me, wolf,” Tobirama said. “It’s bad enough that I have to use you for support.”

Madara cut a glare at Tobirama, not missing the disdain in his voice. “You know,” Madara snapped, “I wouldn’t sound too condescending toward me right now, if I was you. I _am_ supporting you, and you might want to remember it. I’m sure that I wouldn’t have to try too hard to make this walk a lot more painful for you.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Tobirama panted. “Don’t be such an ass. I wasn’t being condescending. It’s not that I find the thought of a wolf specifically carrying me around to be distasteful. I loath the thought of being carried around in general. It’s demeaning and being supported like I am now is only marginally better.”

“You know that the elven species as a whole could use a lesson in humility. There’s nothing wrong with allowing your allies to help you,” Madara informed him.

“We’re not really allies,” Tobirama informed him quietly. “You’re my brother’s friend and ally. If we weren’t in the situation, I doubt that either of us would ever try and help each other out with anything.”

Madara grounded his teeth together in an effort not to snap back angrily in a reply. This was exactly the reason why they didn’t get along. Tobirama was an irrevocable asshole with the coldest disposition that he had ever witnessed on any creature. Madara couldn’t stand it. It grated on him like thorns against his skin and made him want to lash out.

“Well,” Madara said, forcing his voice to be calm and collected, “the saying goes that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and I’d say that right now we have one hell of a mutual enemy. I might not be very old, but I can say that the saying has never been proven wrong with me before. I consider you my ally right now, even if you don’t want to acknowledge it.”

Tobirama was silent for a few moments, and Madara rolled his eyes. He could practically see the gears working in the other’s head, searching up a comment that would be suitably scathing while not seeming rude at the same time. Madara cut him off before he could get it out of his mouth.

“Save your energy for the walk,” Madara advised him. “I’m not sure how much farther it is, but I don’t need you passing out on me before we get there.”

The fact that Tobirama complied let Madara know that there was a good chance that the man was going to lose consciousness before they got to their destination. He fought down that nearly painful squeeze of panic that tightened within his chest. _We’ll make it there,_ Madara told himself, _the man’s too proud to give up over something like blood loss. He’ll find a way to pull through, especially if he’s a great as Hashirama makes him out to be._ Of course, Madara knew that Hashirama had a love for theatrics. Tobirama definitely wasn’t a great as Hashirama made him out to be, but Madara was praying that the man was at least as strong as Hashirama said that he was.

 

It was about another twenty minutes into their walk when Tobirama went limp. They hadn’t spoken in that time, because Madara had wanted him to conserve his strength, but he realized—much too late—that not speaking to him at all might have been a mistake. Everything had been fine one moment, Tobirama had been normal, panting from exertion, but still fine, and the next he was dead weight. Madara wasn’t in the best shape either, so when he’d attempted to catch him, they had both fallen into the freezing snow. Madara hissed. He had nothing to cover his stomach, chest, and back since he’d given up his shirt, jacket, and Tobirama’s cloak to the other man, since his condition had been a lot worse than Madara's.

Madara cushioned Tobirama’s fall as much as he could and swore as his back hit the snow. Goosebumps crawled all over his body. He wasn’t sure if it was just from the cold below him, or if it had something to do with Tobirama’s labored breath blowing warmth on his neck. He rolled Tobirama off him and situated the man so that he was laying on his back on the ground while Madara sat on his knees next to him.

He looked at the nightmare swirling around him and bowed his head in resignation. It was dark; snow was falling everywhere, and the trees were so thick that it was impossible to tell which direction was which. Without Tobirama, he was utterly lost, and he had nothing else to help him find his way in this blizzard.

“Is this really going to be how I die?” Madara asked himself aloud, though he didn’t even hear the words that he’d spoken. The roar from the wind that was blowing the snow around, ripped the sound away just as the noise was leaving his lips.

He stiffened as the sound of footsteps hit his ears. “I found you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, but not really for the cliffhanger. Hope you all enjoyed anyway. Who do you think found them??? Friends or foes?  
> Thank you for reading! Feel free to let me know what you thought!


	5. Desperate Measures

He looked up wearily as Hashirama, another man, a woman, Kagami and Hikaku walked into view. They were practically on top of him when he could see them. Madara couldn’t help the relief that filled his body, making him feel a bit lighter at the sight of his clansmen. He was glad that they were alright, but Tobirama’s condition had easily dampened that joy. Hashirama’s face was grim as he looked down at the snow where his younger brother was laying. His friend had long, brown hair that was whipping in the strong wind, getting into his face as he knelt in front of Madara, on the other side of Tobirama’s prone form.

“What happened?” Hashirama asked him. Madara could tell that he was yelling above the wind, but Madara could barely hear him.

“Vampire!” Madara shouted. “He has a wound on his side. I tried my best to wrap it, but there was only so much that I could do!”

Madara saw Hashirama shift around and watched as the elf took his cloak off and threw it at Madara. “I know that you can’t actually freeze to death, but the cold has to be uncomfortable. Go ahead and put that on.”

Madara didn’t argue, knowing that this was hardly the time to be worried about discomfort or lack thereof. He slid it over his shoulder and sloppily tied it up before he looked down at Tobirama. Madara saw Hashirama pull up the other man’s shirt, from around the coat and cloak and pulled down the bandage.

Madara heard Hashirama mutter something, but the wind was too loud for him to properly hear. It must have been some sort of incantation, because his hands began glowing green against the nasty gash on Tobirama’s stomach. He could see the wound closing.

He heard Hashirama curse and he immediately looked up at the other man, worried. “What is it?” he demanded.

“He’s lost too much blood,” Hashirama said. “I can only heal so much of the wound, and he’s not going to be able to heal the rest of it like he is.”

“Can’t you do some sort of transfusion when we get back to your colony?” Madara demanded. Worry started clogging up his throat. Tobirama had saved his life, even if he was an ass. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

“He won’t make it that far,” Hashirama said. “Besides, we don’t have the supplies for it. Elves are anemic, for lack of a better word. He’s lost too much hemoglobin, and elves make it very slowly, so putting elven blood in system would be useless—”

“I get it,” Madara snapped, “quit blabbering! He needs blood from another type of creature.” He sighed and pulled his hand out of his cloak. “Anyone got a knife?”

“What are you doing, sir!?” Hikaku snapped. His voice reached a note higher than Madara thought was normal for any kind of dire situation. “You aren’t going to give him your blood, are you?!”

“As your leader, I’m not about to let you give up your blood while I’m here,” Madara said calmly. “Calm down and keep quiet for now. We’re trying to save a life.”

Much to Madara's relief and surprise, Hikaku went silent immediately. Huh, maybe his tone was starting to become more commanding like his father’s. He looked around at the elves expectantly. Hashirama, with his eyes practically shining, grabbed a small dagger from a sheath on his hip. “Thank you so much, Madara,” he cried out. “I’m so glad that you’re here! You’re such a good person!”

“Shut up,” he snapped. He heard some angry mutters from the elves for disrespecting their leader, but he didn’t care. Hashirama’s gushing always made him uncomfortable and having witnesses to it made it so much more mortifying. He snatched the knife out of his hand and brought it to his arm. He clenched his hand into a fist and brought it over his flesh right in the middle of his forearm.

Hashirama already had Tobirama’s mouth pried open and was holding it steady when Madara brought his arm up and over Tobirama’s head. He saw blood tricking off his arm and over the pale skin of Tobirama’s cheeks and neck, staining it red before he managed to aim it properly at his mouth. As soon as the stream hit his tongue, Madara saw Tobirama’s canine’s elongate. It wasn’t a ridiculous change, but it was definitely noticeable. They became thinner and more needle-like, as though it was meant to be used to pierce the thin flesh of someone’s neck.

He saw Tobirama’s throat contract as he reflexively swallowed. Madara was grateful for seeing that. He had been afraid that the other man would be too far gone to swallow on his own. The thought of someone choking on his blood made him feel really uneasy.

He felt his head spinning too quickly and knew that it was because he was already low on blood. He saw Hashirama tense and reach out, snatching his arm up and away. He heard that same incantation again, and his wound began tingling and itching. He realized after a moment it was because the tissue was knitting back together.

“Why are you so low on blood?” Hashirama demanded. “He hasn’t drunk that much!”

“Vampire,” Madara muttered, not feeling like giving him an entire explanation for it. He figured that would be good enough for Hashirama until they got back to the colony. He blinked as another realization came to him and he snatched his arm out of Hashirama’s healing grip. “Don’t do that until he’s had enough,” Madara snapped at him.

“He’s had enough,” Hashirama said, his voice turning gentle. “You don’t have any left to give anyway. Save what you’ve got for yourself. You’re going to need it.”

“Thank you,” a woman’s voice piped up. Madara looked over and saw someone vaguely familiar. It was the belligerent woman that sometimes came to the meetings that were held between the two clans twice a year. “You’ve taken such a large risk to save my cousin. That’s very brave, for a wolf.”

Madara grumbled, a bit offended by the last part of the sentence that she tagged on. He let it go easily, however. He didn’t have the energy to argue with her. He just looked away from the woman and back toward Hashirama.

“You said that he’s had enough blood,” Madara said. “How long will it be until we can move him? I might not be able to freeze, but it’s still cold out here, and we’re not alone. I don’t want to be ambushed by that _thing_ again, especially if it is the one with the element of surprise. We won’t be able to beat it like this.”

“I know it’s a vampire,” Hashirama said, “but think about it, Madara. They _are_ powerful creatures, but there are five of us here that are healthy, and capable. I don’t think that it can take all of us on and win.”

“It was an Otsutsuki,” Madara informed him. “He was the most powerful being that I’ve ever met. More powerful than either of us. We can’t take him the way that we are right now.”

He heard sharp inhales from all the elves as he said that surname. Apparently, it was a well-known and very feared name. “Noted,” Hashirama said, his voice reaching a high-pitch, nearly like Hikaku’s. “We should go now. We’ll just have to carry him.”

“Then come on,” Madara urged. “I’ll get one side of him and you can get the other.”

“You’re already weak,” Hashirama insisted. “Let someone—”

“I’m no good in a fight,” Madara said, “and you’re the leader of your clan, which means that the two elves with you aren’t going to let you fight. The others can keep watch while we carry your brother. We don’t have time to argue about this. We need to go _now_.”

“Alright,” Hashirama agreed. He grabbed one of Tobirama’s arms and Madara did the same with the other. They both pulled him up and wrapped his arms around their shoulders. Hashirama was an inch or two taller than Madara and both of them were shorter than Tobirama by a few inches. It made situating him awkward and difficult, but they managed it as speedily as they could.

They started a quick pace in the same direction that Madara had been heading in the first place. He didn’t know how long the walk was going to take, but he had a feeling that it would be a while, especially at the slow pace they had to go with him and Tobirama in their horrible conditions.

 

“I have a question for you, Uchiha,” the woman, Toka Senju said maybe twenty minutes into their trek.

“What is it?” Madara grunted, not really interested in chattering away with her. He needed all his energy and concentration for putting one foot in front of the other. He wasn’t about to tell her that, however. Showing weakness in front of the elves wasn’t going to happen.

“Since the weres don’t really know anything about vampires and elves, I was wondering if you know about the little problem with addi—”

“Toka!” Hashirama’s voice became flat and commanding. At that sound alone, Madara's step faltered. He’d never heard Hashirama sound like another other than a blubbering mess. He found his rhythm a moment later and continued walking once again.

Toka immediately silenced herself, clearly getting the command to shut up.

“Let’s not talk right now,” Hashirama said. His voice was a lot calmer than before, but it was still hard. “We all need to remain alert, and Madara needs to stay concentrated on staying awake until we get to the colony at the very least.”

Part of Madara wanted to tell himself that Hashirama had sounded that way out of concern for his health, but he knew better. His friend was trying to hide something important from him. He wanted to demand answers, but Hashirama was right, even if he was trying to evade a subject. Madara didn’t need anything else to concentrate on.

“We can talk about this later,” Madara said, his voice serious.

“We will,” Hashirama promised. “This just really isn’t a good time.”

~Tobirama~

Tobirama woke up feeling, sore and…different. His throat felt dry, parched really, as though he hadn’t had water in days. He wondered if that was how long he’d been unconscious. Part of him wondered what exactly had happened, but he supposed that question could be answered after he’d established a few more important things…such as where he was. He opened his eyes and looked directly up. He was laying down on a comfortable bed. He was staring up at a familiar sloped ceiling. It looked like he was on the inside of a tree, because he _was._ Somehow, he had managed to make it home.

Relief washed over him as he pushed himself so that he was sitting up. He felt the soft blankets from the medical ward slide off his bare chest and immediately looked down. His side was no longer wrapped. He was completely healed, and there was no evidence that he had ever been wounded, save for a thin scar that ran up his side, just to the edge of his ribs. He looked up again and allowed his eyes to roam around the circular room, soaking in every drop of normalcy that he could. He’d been afraid that he wouldn’t get the chance to see his village again, so the fact that he was there felt like a miracle in itself. He was home, and he was _safe._

The Otsutsuki wouldn’t be able to get him from inside of the village. Wards were in place over the entire clearing of trees that the elves inhabited, and travelers couldn’t get past them without help of one of the people living inside. They couldn’t even attempt to because they were unable to see it at all. He might not be sure about the vampire’s magic. It might be strong enough for him to get through, but he was certain that if it was the case, the Otsutsuki would have to work hard for it. Tobirama prayed that he would consider him and Madara so beneath him that they wouldn’t be worth the effort to chase anymore and would just give up and go away. Part of him, however, figured that was unlikely. They had injured and offended him. If he was insulted enough, he would probably stop at nothing until Tobirama and Madara were both dead at his feet.

“You’re awake!” Hashirama’s excited voice hit his ears and pulled him out of his reverie. He jumped, still not completely conscious and turned to look at the ornate double doors that marked the entranceway to the infirmary and saw that Hashirama was standing in the threshold with the doors wide open to the outside. He watched as his brother floated inside and shut the doors behind him with an absentminded flick of his wrist. With the life magic that ran through his veins, he was able to control any plant but had a special affinity for trees.

“How long have I been asleep?” Tobirama questioned him. The dryness in the back of his throat was still very distracting, and he was concerned that he’d been wounded badly enough to have stayed asleep long enough to feel effects of dehydration.

“A few hours,” Hashirama reported. “It was longer than I had expected. I was beginning to worry that something else might be wrong with you. Something that I didn’t catch. How are you feeling right now?” Hashirama asked him. “Are you in pain? Are there any strange sensations?”

Tobirama shifted in his bed, being sure to move his entire body a little as he did so. There were a few twinges of pain here and there, but they were from sore muscles and most likely bruised bones. It was nothing that wouldn’t heal quickly on its own within the next day or so. “There’s nothing that’s not to be expected,” Tobirama told him. “I do feel a bit…off, however. Is there anyway that I could get a drink? My throat is very dry.”

Hashirama walked to the small spicket that was on the opposite side of the room and fiddled around there for a moment with his back to Tobirama. “Can you explain what you mean by _off_?”

“I’m not sure if I can,” Tobirama admitted. He thought for a moment and realized that the sensation was very hard to describe. His brain felt more open, his senses sharper. He felt as though he had more energy to spare but still felt completely drained at the same time.

“Try,” Hashirama urged as he turned around with a small glass of water in his hand. He made his way to Tobirama’s cot and sat down on the bed next to his legs. He held out the glass of water and Tobirama took it eagerly. He knocked the cool liquid back quickly, praying for relief. When the cup of water was gone, he realized that he was just as thirsty as he had been before.

He decided to keep that to himself for a moment as he sat the glass down on the small bedside table to his right. “I feel different,” he began. “It’s almost as though my mind is sharper than normal, and so are my senses. They’re dulled right now from exhaustion, but I can tell that they’re sharper than normal. I also feel like I have a larger store of energy. I’m tired, but I also feel as though I could run for maybe twenty miles before it starts to wear on me.”

Hashirama had a concerned frown on his face, but as Tobirama started his explanation, he noticed that his brother’s expression had tightened. He’d gotten better with hiding his expressions when the situation called for it, but Tobirama knew him too well not to be able to see his small ticks. He would never be able to hide anything from him, and he was very grateful for that fact at the moment.

“Brother,” Tobirama said sharply, letting him know that he would not stand for a runaround. “Tell me what happened.”

Hashirama winced at his tone, but when he replied, his voice was as calm as could be. “A lot has happened,” Hashirama said. He laced his fingers together slowly and looked down at his lap for a moment, as though to compose himself further before he turned and looked at Tobirama again. Tobirama was beginning to get more and more nervous from his brother’s actions alone. Something was wrong…very wrong, and he wanted to know what it was _now_. “What’s the last thing that you remember?”

  “What happened?” Tobirama demanded, ignoring Hashirama’s question in favor of his own. “Is the Uchiha alright? Has someone else been hurt? Have you found Toka?”

“Everyone is fine,” Hashirama assured him. “Calm down, Tobi. Madara is laying down and resting right now. As far as I can tell, you were hurt the most out of everyone, and now you’re fine, so everyone is alright. Toka came to the village with two of Madara's subordinates and was the one to inform me that you and Madara were missing. I want to explain everything to you, so just tell me what you remember so that I can start from there. We have a few serious things to discuss, and I’d prefer that you not be confused by the end of everything.”

“The last thing that I remember clearly is being in the cabin with the Uchiha,” Tobirama muttered, giving up. He brought his hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose in a probably fruitless attempt to ward of an oncoming migraine. “He had been knocked out, and I’d carried him there. I had been either stabbed or impaled by _something_ , I’m still not sure what and was unable to treat my wound. He woke up and wrapped it for me and we left the cabin. After I started walking, things are hazy.”

“You lost too much blood and passed out halfway back here,” Hashirama informed him. His face was pinched in what seemed to be discomfort, and Tobirama felt his stomach began to squirm. What had happened to make him so uneasy?

“You were too unstable to move,” Hashirama said, his voice reaching a tone that sounded more like a plea for understanding than just a simple explanation, “and with the amount of blood loss that you’d had, you wouldn’t have made it back to the village.”

Tobirama’s eyes widened in realization. Between the guilty expression that was marring his brother’s face and the fact that Tobirama was still alive if his condition had really been that bad told him enough. “Who?” he asked. “Whose blood did I drink?”

“Madara Uchiha’s,” Hashirama said quietly.

Tobirama went silent as he looked away from his brother and down at the light green blankets that had pooled in his lap. This couldn’t be real, he decided, this all just had to be a really messed-up dream, and he would wake from it any time. There was no way that he had drank Madara's blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo...what do you think is so bad about Tobirama drinking Madara's blood?? Do you think that the Otsutsuki is just going to give up after everything that Tobirama and Madara did to him?  
> Thank you so much for bothering to read this! I hope that you enjoyed it! Feel free to let me know what you thought!


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